I just looked at someone's sales page and happened to notice my own personal browsing habit...

First, I scan the headlines to see what they are offering. Then I scroll down to the very bottom of the page to see what the price is. (On pages that make me click to see the price, I will click to see it).

Then, if the price seems reasonable, I will head back to the top and begin reading the copy. (9 times out of 10, however, I quit once I see the price).

Have you ever noticed your own sales letter browsing patterns? How do YOU read a sales page?

I recently thought of apologizing to all the people on this board who have links in their signature to a product they're selling.

At some point or another, I've hurt their conversion rate.

It's not that I won't EVER buy. It's just that I can't buy everything NOW. And I won't ever buy EVERYTHING.

So I browse. Read. Learn. And make a mental list of what I want and when, according to my personal timing and needs.

So Mr. Fortin, Calhoun, Humphreys, Maroney, Cavanaugh, Kilstein, Breslin and others...also Marcia Yudkin...does catwoman have a product?.....anyways...

Oh yeah, I've also done this to Carlton (several times - sorry!), Kennedy, Makepeace, and Bly ( a lot - sorry Bob you have so many products to look at!).

What can I say? I like to read sales copy and remind myself of shiny new things I may want later.

I've bought from a couple of you already, but I've probably torked your conversion rate from personal curiosity - knowing I wasn't ready to buy yet.

I'm sorry!

Good question. Roughly in order;

• headline
• skip to the "what the heck am I looking at" bullets (try to ignore the pictures and sidebars (gag))
• bonuses (value, quick scan)
• guarantee (just the first sentence)
• price (clicking the order now button if I don't find the price within 15 seconds or so)
• signature
• P.S.'s (reading only the first 10 words or so)

If I like their message I go back and read the first couple paragraphs, skip through the subheads, then back up to the top and look for a story. If I'm still interested I'll read the whole thing.

Regarding videos in sales letters I never watch them, it will start and I'll start scrolling down and just read. Within one minute I realize someone is bugging me while I'm reading so I stop the video. Same thing with audios. Seems like a lot of effort to tick off a prospect.

JCollins, I do that a lot to. I know I'd better have money on a card when I go back the 3rd or 4th time because a purchase is about to be made. I read a $6K bootcamp letter about 8 times completely before I spent the money. Screwed up the conversion 7 times. Cheers.

These days many marketers are deliberately not stating the price on the sales page, forcing you to click thru to the order page to find it.

I don't know if they consider this a clever trick, but it's really annoying to me as a buyer to not find the price anywhere in the sales letter.

But looking at the funny side of it, it appears like these people are hell bent on screwing up their own conversion stats.

Excellent question! And if enough people answer, great marketing feedback.

I'm going to have to pay closer attention to what I do because I'm not exactly sure of the pattern.

I do know I scan. I usually want to know if the product is going to solve a particular problem, so I scan like crazy to see if that is addressed (and admittedly I can miss that crucial bit of information the first time around in my rush to find it)

I'm also looking for price upfront.

Videos get in the way for me too. Those are something I like to handle manually and I only watch them if my interest level is raised beyond the initial phase.

I definitely read testimonials to see if someone had a similar problem or need as I did, and this product addressed it the way I wanted it to

I also look for credentials and legitimacy. There is a lot of crap on the market and I want to know I'm getting something legit. So if the letter strikes a good balance of explaining who, what, why...I'm satisfied.

It's interesting that as a web copywriter, i hardly actually read websites anymore.

I scan the headline, maybe the first line of text, then the subheadings, and text boxes to see if there's anything that catches my eye. (A bit like how search engines work really!)

if there are too many boxes, it's a poorly designed site, or a long-copy sales page i'll automatically just click away. It's not conscious, and I've probably missed out on some good sites, but the net makes everything so transient - especially copy

But as people get more familiar with the internet there will be more people doing it just like me, which will make it even more interesting for writers

From the time I land on a page to the time I decide this guy has ticked me off by not just telling me what the heck he's selling, I take about 10 seconds.

For the sales letters that do make it obvious what they're selling, I look for a feature list and skim past all the "benefits". Then I find the price. If I can't, I'm out. Maybe the process takes about 30 seconds on average.

James,

Good question. I used to read every single line of a sales page, just about ready to buy by the time I got done. (The way it's supposed to work.)

But now, I look at the headline, read a few lines until I figure out what is being sold, then scroll down the whole page to find the price. I notice that I find myself growing frustrated at the length of the letter.

There's a great site on the way people use the Web. It contains the latest news and real studies, and I look at it often. It's probably been posted here before, but just in case, it's:

useit.com: Jakob Nielsen on Usability and Web Design

And here's an article I saw on it called "Web users becoming more ruthless": Web users becoming more ruthlessal Comms Hub

Ayla

For me, it's absolutely true that the headline has to grab you and pull you in. If the headline doesn't really get my attention and make me WANT to read more, I'm outa there baby.

If it does grab me by the jugular, I'll start reading to see where it's going.

I'd say, maybe after a paragraph or two, I'm starting to begin the skimming process.

Then, if I'm really getting interested, I start looking for the price. I am also very bothered if I have to click somewhere else to find it. Sometimes I will, most times I'm gone. Depends on how interested I am.

As far as sidebars, videos and things of that nature go, I find them annoying - especially sidebars. That's especially true if I'm really into what I'm reading on the main part of the copy.

I see that sidebar and I think, I should be reading that. But, dang it, I don't want to be ripped away from what I'm reading. What I usually do, is read down to the end of a section, then go back up and read the sidebar I missed. Then go back down and pick up where I left off - yada.

It's annoying and I can't for the life of me understand why this is done. I'm sure it's been tested and proven. But for me, it doesn't work.

Yes, BUT.

One cautionary note for you copywriters, you don't want to inject your pesonal preferences into the equation if there is evidence something works. Now Michel Fortin is a testing fiend, and probably has mountains of evidence on such things.

Down the street from me, at Kent State University, they have an eye tracking device that can be leased. After using it, one of the companies I work with went ahead and invested the $50,000.00 to acquire their own.

NOW they can test, test and test, but they do it under REAL LIFE simulations, where a buying decision can be made. Without that, you only have or know, where the eye goes from one place to another and you are left with an educated guess from the BUYERS.

We all have different reading modes, and you copywriters may be doing things a little different than the target market.

So, I'm just saying, it would be a good idea for you to separate your personal preferences and come to UNDERSTAND the why.

Nothing personal, but I don't UNDERSTAND when a copywriter says: (emphasis mine of course):

It's annoying and I can't for the life of me understand why this is done. I'm sure it's been tested and proven.

Just make sure when you are delivering copy to your client, you go with the tested and proven and stay away from any personal preferences you may have. I think Michel's new work is based upon, what, thousands of test variations?

This holds true for off line promotions too.

gjabiz